Brian Setzer, in a career entering its fifth decade as of 2023, has restored not one Americana genre to popularity, but two: During the '80s with the chart-topping
Stray Cats, he revived rockabilly (it was only marginally popular in the '50s). In the '90s he formed the
Brian Setzer Orchestra, spreading big-band jump and swing to the alt rock generation. In the 21st century, he's recorded live more often than in the studio. Following a 2019
Stray Cats reunion, he issued the excellent
Gotta Have the Rumble in 2021 after a seven-year studio hiatus.
The Devil Always Collects was recorded at The Terrarium in Minneapolis, and co-produed by
Setzer and
Julian Raymond. The 11-song set contains eight
Setzer originals: Five co-written with
Mike Himelstein, one with spouse
Julie Setzer, and three covers. Longtime friend and collaborator
Kevin McKendree played piano, organ, and musical director to a cast of studio musicians and backing vocalists. While firmly based in rockabilly/roots rock style, the writing is imaginative and focused while the charts are loads of canny fun. Its first single, "Girl on a Billboard" (co-written by
Hank Mills and
Walter Haynes, and recorded by
Del Reeves), weds the maniacal,
Link Wray-esque, tasty, riff and roll rumble to evocative lyrics and a showman's intensity. The title track, played at a blistering tempo, is what rockabilly as hardcore might sound like. Its popping upright bass (played by
David Spicher) offers the driving pace as
Setzer reflects everyone from
Chuck Berry and
Dale Hawkins to
Dorsey Burnette in his playing. The dual lead guitars in the intro to his "Black Leather Jacket" frame a burning theatrical rocker narrative in a minor key with retro, '70s-style twin lead guitar breaks. Speaking of the '70s,
Nick Lowe's swaggering roots rocker "Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)" was originally recorded by pub rockers
Brinsley Schwarz in 1973, but
Setzer's rowdy, rollicking, good-time version uses vintage instrumentation, an unruly female backing chorus, and modern production techniques. It's followed by "A Dude'll Do (What a Dude'll Do)," a biting, bumping, rockabilly strutter
Setzer and
Himelstein co-wrote, with
Spicher's upright bass bomb guiding band as
Setzer engages in spiraling guitar pyrotechnics. The hilarious, swamp boogie of "Psycho Suzie" was co-composed with spouse
Julie Setzer (she also serves in the album's backing chorus). Juxtaposing a furious, power riffing, hardcore rockabilly stomp,
Setzer (and the backing chorus on the refrain) channels the dynamic, growling ghost of
Billy Lee Riley on the humorous lyric. Musically, he combines the vocal harmonies of the
Everly Brothers with the rocking, countrified guitar attack of
Cliff Gallup (
Gene Vincent's
Blue Caps). It ends with "One Particular Chick," a fingerpopping story song that weds blues, jump, swing, and rock & roll.
While impossible to stylistically separate
The Devil Always Collects from
Setzer's previous output (and why would you?), it's more polished, immediate, and even modern sounding with no compromise to the music. In other words, this is prime, deeply inspired
Setzer. ~ Thom Jurek
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